Understanding Interquartile Range (IQR): A Statistician’s Guide to Measuring Data Spread

interquartile range

The interval of scores bounded by the 25th and the 75th percentiles.

Interquartile range (IQR) is a statistical measure that represents the spread or dispersion of a dataset. It is the difference between the third quartile (Q3) and the first quartile (Q1) of a dataset. Quartiles are values that divide a dataset into four equal parts or quarters.

To calculate the interquartile range, you first need to find the median value of your dataset. The median splits your dataset into two halves. Then, find the median of the lower half of the dataset, which is the first quartile (Q1). Next, find the median of the upper half of the dataset, which is the third quartile (Q3). Finally, subtract Q1 from Q3 to get the interquartile range (IQR).

Mathematically:
IQR = Q3 – Q1

It is worth noting that IQR is a useful measure of dispersion because it is not sensitive to outliers. Outliers are extreme values that are much larger or much smaller than the rest of the dataset, and they can often skew other measures of dispersion, such as the range or standard deviation. However, because IQR only considers the middle 50% of the data and ignores extreme values, it provides a more robust measure of the spread of the dataset.

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